Rail-joint



(No Model.)

' J. NELSON.

RAIL JOINT.

No. 473,162. Patented Apr. 19, 1892.

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xfias- UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JOHN NELSON, OF VEST BAY CITY, MICHIGAN;

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Batent No. 473,162, dated April 19, 1892.

Application filed July 27, 1891. Serial No. 400,859. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN NELSON, a citizen ofthe United States, residing, at WVest Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of rail-joints in which the adjacent end portions of the rails are arranged to overlap each other; and the invention consists in the combination, arrangement, and construction of the parts, asI shall hereinafter specifically describe, and which will also be defined in the claim of this specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a rail-jointwhich will maintain an even,-smooth, and continuous surface upon the tread of ,the rails, whereby the jarring and pounding' action of the car-wheels over the rail-joint is avoided, whereby the wear of the rails and the cars are prolonged and liability of breakage and accidents is greatly reduced.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange and construct a rail-joint as to form a substantiallycontinuous surface on the tread of the rails and provide a strong and reliable fastening for the abutting ends of the rails, whereby a greater speed for the trains over the road may be acquired with safety, and the expense of repairs and relaying the track is greatly reduced.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which the letters of reference used in the following specification will be found indicating the same parts or elements throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of my improved rail-joint. Fig. 2 isavertical transverse section of the same, taken at 00 00. Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

a and b are the adjacent ends of the rails to be connected or joined together, and these ends are each provided with a transverse diagonal end surface 0, each of which overlaps the other, forming a transverse diagonal joint (1.

eisatie-plate resting upon the tie 0r sleeper m beneath the joint cl, and the tie-plate also extends beneath the rails beyond the joint.

f are the vertical portions of the fish-plates,

which rest against the opposite sides of the web g of the rail, and the lower edges of these plates are provided with laterally-extending horizontal portions 71, rest-ing upon the upper surface of the portions tof the tie-plate, which projects beyond the lateral edges of the baseflanges j of the rails, and upon the under surfaces of these portions are arranged the 1011- gitudinal shoulders k, which hug the lateral edges of the rail-flanges, while the outer edges Z of the parts h are turned downwardly and form flanges which reach over the end of the tie-plate and are driven into the tie m, which carries the rails. W

The'upper edges not the plates fare turned outwardly and again upwardly to fit snugly the under side of the tread 0 of the rail, and are also provided with an upwardly-extending lip 19, which is fitted to close contactwith the rounded lower lateral edges of the railtread, so that the outward V ends q of the railsplice are supported from beneath by the parts n against a downward movement and by the lips 29 against the lateral movement, so that the outer thin ends of the splice are firmly held'againstliability of springing away from the larger and firmer portions of the rails in contact therewith. Suitable openings are provided in the parts f of the plates, and openings are also formed in the web of the rail coincident with the openings 0", and through these openings are passed the bolts 75, which tightly clamp the parts together.

a are spikes passed through the openings 1; in the portions h of the fish-plates and through the openings 'y in the tie-plate, and extend into the tie m. I

It will be seen that the advantage of myimprovement is that a substantially even and smooth surface is provided over the joint, as the joint extending diagonally across the rail allows the periphery of the car-wheel to reach over and obtain a firm and solid bearing upon one rail before it leaves contact with the other rail, so that all pounding and upsetting the ends of the rails is avoided, and at the same time a smooth and even bearing is provided for the wheels, which avoids all jar and vibration, so that much faster time can be made over the road, with less liability of accidents and with less wear on the rolling-stock.

Another advantage of the improvement is that by means of the flanges l, which extend across the tie and shut off the water which is caught by the rail and the lateral portions of the fish-plates from entering beneath the tieplate and rendering the fibers of the wood soft and easily crushed where the greatest rigidity and firmness are required, so that the supporting-tie is rendered capable of an extended service, and a firmer and more rigid support for the rails is provided.

Having described the construction and operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a rail-joint, the combination, with the scarfed ends of the rails overlapping each other and a tie for carrying the rails, a tieplate between the rail and tie and with its ends projecting beyond the lateral edges of the rail and provided with spilce'openings,

JOHN NELSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. P. THOMAS, JAs. E. THOMAS. 

